


Stargazing

by S_Strilonde



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Brotherly Things, Humanstuck, Misconceptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 12:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2580683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Strilonde/pseuds/S_Strilonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short little thing from an AU post I saw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stargazing

"Mmph."

Kankri stirred, the sound of a slamming door rousing him from his sleep. He glanced at his alarm clock- 3 in the morning. And he had a test tomorrow too. He groaned. sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. The only people in the house were him, his brother and his dad. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, intending to give whoever had woken him up a lecture on the importance of letting his family members sleep. He could see light filtering in from underneath his door for a moment before it switched off. He narrowed his eyes, standing up and running a hand through his messy hair.

The apartment was quiet again when he opened the door, his father's door shut, while his brother's door was slightly ajar. He padded down the hall, glancing inside. As he expected, the room was empty.

The slamming door sounded rather like their front door. The most likely scenario is that Karkat couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk, which had happened before in the past. Although it was probably best to leave him alone, Kankri was a bit miffed that the slamming of the door had woken him up, and intended to lecture the younger boy before going back and getting his much needed rest.

Living on the second story of the apartment building made things a bit easier, and he descended the stairs fairly quickly. He was still in his pajamas, yes, but at this hour he was certain that nobody would see him and if they did, they wouldn't think much of it. He exited the building, shivering as he was blasted by a sudden wave of bitterly cold air. Karkat hadn't left that long ago, so he should be able to see him walking.

But, he was nowhere to be found. He frowned. He found a little creeping worry come into his head. It was three in the morning and his brother was missing, that wasn't a good sign. He looked around outside, to no avail. Before he went back inside he heard a noise from above, causing him to glance up.

Panic gripped him when he saw a pair of legs dangling off of the edge of the roof. There was only one person that could be. Kankri wasn't an athletic person by any means, but he had probably never run that fast in his entire life.

Bolting back into the building, he slid a little on the linoleum floor as he went for the stairs. The elevator had been out of service for at least a month, and he cursed the maintenance workers for not fixing it sooner as he ran up the stairs, panic driving him forward as he neared the top floor, and then the roof.

"Karkat!"

His voice was clearly distressed as he clambered up to the roof, causing Karkat to jump a bit and turn around. He was sitting on the edge of the roof, legs hanging over. Kankri was shaking, from fatigue and worry.

"Kankri?"

He sounded surprised, and a bit confused to see Kankri in his pajamas, breathlessly shouting at him as he sat on the roof. Kankri took a tentative step forward, holding a hand out to him.

"Karkat, don't do it. I knew I should have taken you seriously when you mentioned you hating yourself, I didn't think it was this bad! Please, you have so much to live for, you haven't even graduated high school yet! It will get better, just don't do it!"

Kankri was blubbering now, and Karkat quirked an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He looked him up and down, his face teary eyed as he shivered in the night air, his thin pajamas not offering much protection from the winter winds.

"I'm telling you not to jump!" He sounded desperate as he took another step closer. Karkat blinked at him a few more times, before it finally clicked. He stood up, taking a few steps towards his brother.

"Kankri, oh my god. I was just stargazing, not about to jump off of the roof. I'm fine, stop crying-"

He was cut off by Kankri pulling him into a tight hug, burying his face into Karkat's sweater. Karkat put his arms around Kankri's shoulders, awkwardly patting his back.

"I was so worried." He breathed, holding onto his brother as tightly as he could, as if he was going to disappear at any moment. Karkat nodded, still gently trying to tug himself away from Kankri's death grip. 

"I'm sorry, it's okay." He muttered. "You're squishing me." Kankri pulled back a little, nodding.

"Sorry about that." His sympathetic expression suddenly turned to one of anger.

"Karkat Vantas, don't you EVER scare me like that again. You woke me up at three in the morning as you slammed the door, on a TEST night of all nights, and then I had to climb ten flights of stairs because I thought you were about to jump off of this roof! You do know how dangerous this is, to perch so precariously on the edge of the roof like that? I bet you didn't! It's a miracle I managed to find you in time before you toppled off of the edge."

Karkat knew that it was only a matter of time before Kankri lectured him, but for the moment he just enjoyed the fact that Kankri was actually worried about him.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I won't do it again, okay? Plus, you just fucking said you needed to sleep. How about instead of squeezing the life out of me and blubbering, you actually go the fuck to sleep. And you shouldn't stay out in the cold too long with those shitty ass pajamas either, you might get sick."

Kankri didn't say anything, but he did loosen his grasp on Karkat a little. He turned back to the door leading to the staircase, beckoning for Karkat to come follow.

"I came up here to look at the stars, I don't really plan on leaving just cause you thought I was gonna off myself."

Kankri frowned, turning back around with a little huff. "If you insist on staying up here, I'll stay with you." Kankri sounded determined, the tone he had when he was going to do something and nothing in hell could stop him. Karkat knew better than to argue, nodding as he sat back down. He wasn't sitting on the edge of the roof anymore, instead laying down in the middle of it with his arms behind his head. Kankri did the same, laying down next to him with his hands folded across his chest.

"This is uncomfortable. Can't we-"

"Shut up."

"Watch your tone with me."

"Just be quiet, you're ruining the mood."

"Hmph."

It was quiet once again, Karkat looking up at the stars and little wispy clouds that passed by them. Kankri stifled a yawn, feeling his eyelids droop as he kept his eyes towards the sky. It wasn't long before he dozed off, head leaning a bit in Karkats direction. Karkat wasn't surprised, figuring Kankri needed his sleep anyway.

"So, did you boys get a good night's rest?"

When Kankri and Karkat came back down to their apartment, their father was making coffee. His tone was cheerful, but it was obvious that he was confused as to where they had been the whole night and why they weren't in their rooms, and why Kankri was shivering and sniffling in his pajamas. Karkat shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess."

Kankri stared at the clock. School started an hour ago. He sighed, wrapping his arms around himself a little tighter. Not as if he could have gone anyway.

Well, at least Karkat was safe. That was all that mattered anyway.


End file.
